They Live By Night

75 Years of Film Noir, Part 4: Prime Noir of the 1940s

(1948) dir Nicholas Ray w/Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen [95 min; 35mm]
The directorial debut of the great Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause), THEY LIVE BY NIGHT features Farley Granger as a wrongfully accused man who breaks out of prison in order to prove his innocence and eventually meets and marries Cathy O’Donnell. Despite their desire to settle down and live a normal life, the past quickly catches up with them.

“A key film noir of the 40s, this was Nicholas Ray’s first film as a director (1949), and the freshness of his expressionist-documentary style is still apparent and gripping.” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

“Passionate, lyrical, and imaginative, it’s a remarkably assured debut, from the astonishing opening helicopter shot that follows the escaped convicts’ car to freedom, to the final, inexorably tragic climax.” – Geoff Andrew, Time Out